I WILL MAKE YOU BROOCHES
—Robert Louis Stevenson
I will make you brooches and toys for your delight
Of bird-song at morning and star-shine at night.
I will make a palace fit for you and me
Of green days in forests and blue days at sea.
I will make my kitchen, and you shall keep your room,
Where white flows the river and bright blows the broom.
And you shall wash your linen and keep your body white
In rainfall at morning and dewfall at night.
And this shall be for music when no one else is near,
The fine song for singing, the rare song to hear!
That only I remember, that only you admire,
Of the broad road that stretches and the roadside fire.
________________________
•••Tonight (Wednesday, 10/18), 7 PM: The Sac State Creative Writing Program in conjunction with the Sac State Visiting Scholars Program and Poets & Writers, Inc. presents a lecture & poetry reading by internationally-acclaimed poet, teacher and scholar Bin Ramke in the CSUS Library Gallery (1st floor). Professor Ramke will deliver a talk and then give a poetry reading. The subject for his talk is "Poetry and Proof: The Problem of the Practical."
•••Also tonight, 6:30-8 PM: Urban Voices present CSUS Professor Mary Mackay, South Natomas Library, 2901 Truxel Rd., Sac. Free.
•••Later tonight, 10-midnight: Mahogany Poets presents Mics and Moods at Capitol Garage, 1500 K St., Sac. Features and Open Mic; 21 and older. $5. Info: 916-492-9336 or www.malikspeaks.com.
Come hear the Foxes!
Lots of chances to hear our various Red Fox Underground friends from El Dorado County this week:
•••Friday, 7 PM: Our House Gallery and Framing presents Irene Lipshin and Phil Weidman. Both have new chapbooks out from Rattlesnake Press: Shadowlines (Irene) and Fictional Character: The Ernie Poems(Phil). Free; an open mic follows. Our House Gallery & Framing is located at 4510 Post St. in El Dorado Hills Town Center; from Sac., take the Latrobe exit south and cut over left into the shopping center.
•••Saturday, 7-9 PM: Underground Poetry Series features Red Fox Underground poets Wendy Williams and Brigit Truex, plus Lori Jean Robinson and Random Abiladeze, plus open mic. $3. Underground Books, 2814 35th St., Sac. (35th and Broadway). If you would like to be a featured poet, contact Terry Moore at 916-455-POET.
•••Sunday (Oct. 22), 4 PM: The Book Collector and Rattlesnake Press present Taylor Graham reading from her latest book, The Downstairs Dance Floor, winner of the Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize from Texas Review Press. That's at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sac. Be there. Here are some samples from TG:
HIS MOTHER’S GARLIC PRESS
—Taylor Graham, Somerset
The only thing of hers you ever wanted.
She could strike an argument
quick as a kitchen match. She could chop
and mince and slice your words
and serve them with sauce for dinner.
You’ve never had a press that worked
as well, squeezing each clove
to smithereens. Now you’ve got hers
over her dead body. Tonight,
this must be a mother-in-law head
of garlic that you’re crushing,
so pungent, your eyes sting
with old tears.
_______________________
EPITHALAMION
—Taylor Graham
Four teenagers fathered by a fool
escort you tripping laces down the aisle
as if to give you to this other. True,
he’s father twice, himself. So why
the white gardenias, chapel hushed?
Both families populous with offspring
of two humans grown at ease with flesh.
You’ve taught your kids what’s sin;
the lousiest marriage a sacred vow;
love is richer for what’s not allowed.
Desire of your life. Tonight the kids
will slumber-party chez your ex.
This husband bends for the first kiss.
Your fragrant house. A red sun sets.
_______________________
CONNECTIONS
—Taylor Graham
Outside my window, way beyond the phone,
the grass is growing, and a pair of quail
go foraging for seeds. This morning’s mail,
your husband’s letter – he’s at home alone
three thousand miles from here. What are the ties
that bind half-sister to half-sister, known
so little? Less, now that your mind has flown.
Your husband sees you fade before his eyes.
How shall I mourn someone I hardly knew?
A sister dying, now, in after-sight.
I put the phone down. Dying like the light
off pines, off feathers, quail that flew.
No voice could reach, no line extend so long.
The seeds, the quail, and now the evensong.
_______________________
Thanks, TG! Watch for Judy Taylor Graham's next "Making Fun of Poetry" column in Rattlesnake Review #12, due out in December, or check out her latest one in Snake 11, which is still at The Book Collector. Deadline for Snake 12 is Nov. 15, by the way—time to get crackin'! This issue will feature, among all the other jewels, an interview of Sacramento Poetry Writer/Entrepeneur Terry Moore by B.L. Kennedy.
—Medusa
Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their poetry, photos and art, and announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com for posting on this daily Snake blog. Rights remain with the poets. Previously-published poems are okay for Medusa’s Kitchen, as long as you own the rights. (Please cite publication.)